Upon return from Mecca, he began to mobilize the Muslim peasantry of his native place by preaching against aspects of Islam that were seen as deviations from the Quran and Sunnah —charging of interest on loans, etc.

[2] In June 1830, Krishnadeva Rai, the Zamindar of Punra — in some sources, alternately described as the Talukdar of Sarfarazpur — imposed an annual tax similar to jizya on all bearded Muslims subjects to combat increase in radicalism among them caused by Titumir's preaching.

[2] On Titumir's advice, the peasants refused to pay and an enraged Krishnadeva led a bevy of armed men on a spree of arson, even destroying a local mosque.

[2] The Muslims reciprocated but the melee remained inconclusive; complaints were filed at the Baduria police station by both sides and eventually, the subdivisional magistrate of Barasat dismissed the issue but only after getting a declaration from the peasants about committing to peace.

[2] Buoyed up by the lack of any punishment for Krishnadeva, fellow Zamindars — Ramnarayan Nag Chaudhuri of Taragonia and Guru Prasad Chowdhury of Nagarpur — instituted similar tax-regime on their subjects and imprisoned dissenters.

[2] In October 1830, one of his declarations proclaimed him to be the natural sovereign of the country, who — rather than the Company — had a unilateral right of remittance on local revenues collected by zamindars; a Muslim landholder was raided in the same month for having disobeyed him.

[2] In response, the Hindu zamindars, outraged at the inflammatory activities of the Muslims formed an alliance with the British indigo planters to render mutual assistance in case of assaults by Titumir's militia.

[2] Soon Kaliprasanna Mukherjee, the zamindar of Habra-Gobardanga and a key member of the alliance, was targeted and though Davies, manager of a nearby plantation at Mollahati, came to aid with about 200 men, they were soundly defeated.

[2] The Commissioner of the Presidency Division was solicited to tackle the situation, and accordingly, on 15 November 1830, Alexander, the Joint Magistrate of Barasat — along with Ramram Chakraborti, Officer-In-Charge of Baduria Thana — set out for Titumir with a force of 120 policemen.

[2] The commanding officer of the British forces not only noted Titumir's bravery in dispatches to London but also commented on the strength and resilience of bamboo as a material for fortification, since he had had to pound the fort with artillery for a surprisingly long time.